News

In a new research paper, “America’s Bright Future: Cleaner Air and Affordable, Reliable Electricity,” Managing Principal Susan Tierney discusses grid operator PJM’s recent announcement that its 13-state territory will have ample supply to meet customers’ power needs in 2015 and 2016. She also comments on what PJM’s news implies for the future of electricity reliability in the United States, even as new air emission standards are implemented.

PJM recently completed its annual capacity auction – a process for competitively procuring the resources needed to maintain grid reliability. PJM’s auction produced a reserve margin of more than 20% compared to a target of 15%. These results “clearly refute some earlier dire predictions that Americans have to choose between healthier air quality and reliable and affordable electricity,” Dr. Tierney says. “PJM’s recent results fit within a larger context of record-low natural gas prices, and a longer-term outlook of continued low prices from vast domestic supplies of natural gas.”